President Biden and Vice President Harris abruptly returned to the White House on Thursday night, Dec. 19, canceling their Christmas plans in Delaware and California and signaling a possible national emergency. The White House has not so far explained the reason for their return, but the internet is rampant with speculation.
Possibly motivating the decision, the Federal Government faces a looming budget crisis and possible shutdown if Congress can’t agree on a funding bill with a weekend deadline approaching. Wednesday, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance released a statement calling for a Republican stopgap funding bill to be rejected, which would have averted a government shutdown until March. The statement said the proposed bill gave too many “sweetheart provisions” to Democrats.
As of Friday morning, however, there had been no official White House statement about why the president and vice president could spend their holiday at the White House. Harris’ office announced the vice president’s return, with videos showing her motorcade back in Washington amid reports that the press had been closed off from the area.
Meanwhile, the White House had released no official statement about Biden’s canceled Delaware trip, but his return was confirmed in his official schedule. Biden was also seen arriving at the White House with First Lady Jill Biden.
Again, the most credible explanation is the debt-ceiling vote, ” … in case [the VP] is needed to sign [tie-breaker] on bill,” as one X comment pointed out. Biden may have returned to help negotiate. Other possibilities include a foreign crisis or a development in the mysterious drone sightings that have remained unexplained and captured public attention for weeks. As it stands, it’s all speculation.
But amid the uncertainty, a possible 25th Amendment theory emerged online, or Biden could resign, handing the White House to Harris for a month before Trump is inaugurated. Conspiracy theories involving a potential Biden resignation began shortly after the election, and as history shows, it didn’t happen then, and there’s no real reason to think it will happen now.
The 25th Amendment formalizes a plan for what happens should a president resign, be impeached, or be unable to perform his or her official duties, handing over power to the vice president. The president can invoke the amendment by choice, or the vice president and members could force his or her hand in a case where the president is physically or mentally incapacitated. Should the president disagree that he or she can perform the duties of the office, Congress steps in and has 21 days to vote on the matter.
So far, there’s no reason to think this will happen. Social media posts theorize that it ” … could be a strategic move by Democrats, potentially setting the stage for Harris to grant Biden a pardon for any controversies tied to his political career.” Why exactly Biden would need to be pardoned is unclear, but that Biden is guilty of crimes is common canard among his critics.
The 25th Amendment thread also got picked up in the comments.
Comments called the 25th Amendment theory what it is: far-fetched.
Until we receive official confirmation, we’ll keep an open mind and watch for updates. There are many potential explanations, and while invoking the 25th amendment would certainly upend Trump’s “47” merch, even if Harris stepped in for a month, it would not change the election results, and Trump would still be inaugurated in January.